Gowling WLG congratulates Piikani Nation on award-winning limited partnership with AltaLink

Two landmark limited partnership agreements between AltaLink, Alberta's largest electricity transmission provider, and the Piikani Nation and Kainai-Blood Tribe have been recognized with the 2020 "Award for Advancement of an Integrated Approach to Sustainability."

Presented by the Canadian Electricity Association, the award recognizes outstanding leadership in the development, implementation, and maintenance of an integrated sustainability strategy.

Gowling WLG's Caireen Hanert and Elizabeth Burton were honoured to advise the Piikani Nation on the innovative PiikaniLink partnership agreement, the first of its kind in Alberta. The partnership gives the First Nation a 51 per cent equity stake (worth approximately $52.6 million) in electricity transmission lines and associated substation equipment crossing their land as part of AltaLink's "Southwest 240 kV" project.

The agreement provides the Piikani Nation with the opportunity to earn a regulated rate of return for generations to come. AltaLink will continue to maintain and operate the transmission line as limited partner of PiikaniLink L.P.

Since the 1950s, Gowling WLG has been at the forefront of Indigenous law in Canada. The firm has worked alongside Canada's First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in landmark self-government agreements, resource development projects and Supreme Court cases. Gowling WLG is one of the only full-service law firms in Canada that acts for Indigenous clients as well as private industry, project proponents and all levels of government.